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Mexico cracks down on illegal immigration, tells migrants 'Get in line and you can enter'


The Washington Times
Wed, 12 Dec 2018 21:12 UTC
migrant Suchiate River
© AP Photo/Santiago BillyA migrant raises his fist as he nears the Mexican side of the the Suchiate River, that connects Guatemala and Mexico, Monday, Oct. 29, 2018
Mexico's top security official said Wednesday the government will close off illegal entries at its southern border with Guatemala, but didn't say how the country plans to do it.

Interior Secretary Olga Sanchez Cordero also said the migrant caravans that crossed the southern border in October "is no longer an issue."

"Do you know why it is no longer an issue? Because in five days this administration solved the issue, five days," she said, referring to the first week since President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office Dec. 1. "The United States was impressed."
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Target

US sets new Africa strategy condemning 'predatory' practices of Russia and China


RFE/RL
Fri, 14 Dec 2018 03:41 UTC
ChinaDjibouti base
© AFPChina's military base in Djibouti
The United States has denounced the "predatory" practices of Russia and China in Africa as it unveiled a refocus of its strategy that will include an end to "indiscriminate assistance across the entire continent."

National-security adviser John Bolton said on December 13 that the new strategy would look to counter the efforts of Moscow and Beijing, which he accused of "deliberately and aggressively targeting their investments in the region to gain a competitive advantage." Bolton said Russia is "seeking to increase its influence in the region through corrupt economic dealings."

He accused Moscow of selling arms and energy in exchange for votes at the UN "that keep strongmen in power, undermine peace and security, and run counter to the best interests of the African people." China, he said, has used "bribes, opaque agreements, and the strategic use of debt to hold states in Africa captive to Beijing's wishes and demands."

Bolton said that under the new "Prosper Africa" strategy, the United States would choose its partners in Africa more carefully and "encourage African leaders to choose high-quality, transparent, inclusive, and sustainable foreign investment projects, including those from the United States."

"The United States will no longer provide indiscriminate assistance across the entire continent," he said. "Countries that repeatedly vote against the United States in international forums, or take action counter to U.S. interests, should not receive generous American foreign aid," he added.


Comment: So bribery?


Comment: The US has been 'left behind' in Africa while others' strategies prevail. Whose fault is that?

More from RT:
When the US lends money to African nations or invests into the continent, everything is fair and beneficial to all sides, but when other nations do so, it is practically colonialism 2.0, Washington's new Africa Strategy says.

US President Donald Trump's National Security Advisor, John Bolton blasted Beijing and Moscow for pursuing "predatory practices" in Africa which "stunt economic growth" and "threaten the financial independence of African nations."

China uses "bribes, opaque agreements" to hold African countries "captive to Beijing's wishes and demands," while Moscow's exploits are not much better, the official argued. But it is apparently a whole different story when American money is involved.

"We ask only for reciprocity, never for subservience," Bolton proclaimed in a keynote speech on Washington's Africa Strategy on Thursday, calling the US "the least imperial power in the history of the world."


Try not to snicker. Bet ya can't!


However, unlike China's leader Xi Jinping who visited Africa nine times to promote large investment projects, the White House had seemed so far more eager to deploy its army in the continent - as the US troops are stationed in 50 out of 54 African states.

The US renewed interest in Africa is "a cynical geopolitical strategy" aimed more at "trying to maintain the upper hand against Russia and China" than anything else, African affairs analyst, Lawrence Freeman stressed. "The Trump administration does not actually desire to help Africa develop. They see Africa as a pawn on a geopolitical chessboard."

Speaking to RT, Freeman argued that, contrary to Bolton's words, Chinese mega-projects like the Belt and Road Initiative can't be dismissed as 'predatory' because they help African countries to build crucial infrastructure.

For decades, Africa was touted as the 'lost continent' and "written off" mainly because "the US was not providing infrastructure money or doing anything to develop the nation," Ann Lee, an adjunct professor of economics and finance at New York University, told RT. "Now that China actually turns Africa into the fastest-growing continent, the US basically feels like they need to do a catch-up."

Professor Lee noted that Chinese investments make African nations "wealthier," saying that the kind of "arm-twisting" the US tends to employ "to get concessions is probably not going to win any friends."
See also:

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Briefcase

Prosecutors now probing Trump inauguration spending

Brett Samuels
The Hill
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 04:41 UTC
elephantdollar
© Daily Beast
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are looking into whether President Trump's inaugural committee misspent funds or accepted donations in exchange for access to the administration, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

The Journal reported that many of the president's biggest campaign supporters were contributors to his inaugural fund. Donating in exchange for political favors or using funds for purposes other than the inauguration could violate federal laws.

The news outlet, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the investigation is in its early stages, and stemmed from materials obtained during an FBI raid earlier this year of longtime Trump attorney Michael Cohen.

Investigators in those raids reportedly obtained a recorded conversation between Cohen and Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former adviser to first lady Melania Trump who worked on the inauguration. Wolkoff is heard expressing concern about how the committee was spending money, the Journal reported, but the news outlet could not determine when the conversation took place.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders distanced Trump from the inauguration committee Thursday. Sanders told reporters:
"That doesn't have anything to do with the president or the first lady. The biggest thing the president did, his engagement in the inauguration, was to come here and raise his hand and take the oath of office. The president was focused on the transition at that time and not on any of the planning for the inauguration."

Comment: There are no allegations that campaign funders received any compensating favors nor any implications directed at President Trump. Is this a legit investigation or merely a headline grabber by the Journal?
See also:
Rosenstein allowed Mueller request to authorize FBI raid on office of Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen

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Briefcase

FBI violated policy; Federal judge demands all exculpatory evidence in Flynn's case

Sara Carter
saraacarter.com
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 01:28 UTC
Michael Flynn
© UnknownFormer National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn
A federal judge overseeing the case of Former National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn is demanding to see the FBI's first interviews with the retired three-star general after explosive information contained in a sentencing memo released Tuesday night revealed that senior FBI leadership suggested he not have a lawyer present, nor warn him that his interview was subject to penalties if he failed to provide all the answers, according to the 178 page Defendants memorandum submitted to the court.

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office Wednesday night to turn over all the government's documents by mid-day Friday. The exculpatory documents requested by Sullivan include any memorandums regarding Flynn's case because of the extraordinary circumstances of the information, according to Sullivan's request. Further, Sullivan is also requesting any documentation regarding the first interviews conducted by former anti-Trump agent Peter Strzok and FBI Agent Joe Pientka -known by the FBI as 302s- which were found to be dated more than seven months after the interviews were conducted on Jan. 24, 2017, a violation of FBI policy, say current and former FBI officials familiar with the process. According to information contained in Flynn's memorandum, the interviews were dated Aug. 22, 2017.

Comment: See also:

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Snakes in Suits

Congress hides, passes illegal legislation in Farm Bill supporting ongoing genocide in Yemen

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 00:00 UTC
Yemen slaughter bill
© TheFREETHOUGHTPROJECT.comYemen slaughter bill
Yesterday, Congress violated the Constitution and the War Powers Act by voting to block and further moves by Congress, to withdraw U.S. forces from the wholesale slaughter and genocide currently taking place in Yemen. This move was done using the Farm Bill.

Many Americans are wondering what, exactly, a Farm Bill has to do with genocide in Yemen. The answer to that question is absolutely nothing. However, it does make for a good hiding place for insidious and illegal legislation, which is why the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 contained a section which removed the application of the War Powers Resolution.

As the mainstream media reported on the government finally legalizing a plant-industrial hemp-that should have never been illegal in the first place, one of the most disgusting moves ever by Congress was carried out in the dark like cockroaches.

"To avoid a debate on whether the US should be involved in a war in Yemen, today our leadership will trick members into suspending the provisions of the War Powers Act," tweeted representative Thomas Massie yesterday morning. "Sad!" he said. "Despicable" that House Speaker Paul Ryan "is shirking responsibility for debating our involvement in the Yemen war by hiding the war resolution in a procedural vote on the farm bill."

Comment: There is no excuse big enough to justify what has happened, and continues to happen, in Yemen.

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Attention

Trump dossier author, Christopher Steele, was hired to help Hillary challenge 2016 election results

Rowan Scarborough
The Washington Times
Wed, 12 Dec 2018 00:00 UTC
ChrisSteele
© PA images via Getty ImagesChristopher Steele
British ex-spy Christopher Steele, who wrote the Democrat-financed anti-Trump dossier, said in a court case that he was hired by a Democratic law firm in preparation for Hillary Clinton challenging the results of the 2016 presidential election.

He said the law firm Perkins Coie wanted to be in a position to contest the results based on evidence he unearthed on the Trump campaign conspiring with Moscow on election interference.

His scenario is contained in a sealed Aug. 2 declaration in a defamation law suit brought by three Russian bankers in London. The trio's American attorneys filed his answers Tuesday in a libel lawsuit in Washington against the investigative firm Fusion GPS, which handled the former British intelligence officer.

In an answer to interrogatories, Mr. Steele wrote:
"Fusion's immediate client was law firm Perkins Coie. It engaged Fusion to obtain information necessary for Perkins Coie LLP to provide legal advice on the potential impact of Russian involvement on the legal validity of the outcome of the 2016 US Presidential election.

"Based on that advice, parties such as the Democratic National Committee and HFACC Inc. (also known as 'Hillary for America') could consider steps they would be legally entitled to take to challenge the validity of the outcome of that election."
The Democrats never filed a challenge, but Mr. Steele's answer suggested that was one option inside the Clinton camp, which funded Mr. Steele's research along with the Democratic National Committee. The U.S. intelligence community concluded that Moscow interfered in the election by hacking Democratic Party computers and stealing emails that it released via WikiLeaks. No Trump associate has been charged with collusion.


Comment: Filing a challenge to the outcome of the campaign would have opened legal doors the Dems and the FBI were not willing to chance. It was safer for the intel community to provide a determination of 'concluded'. There was, and still is, no proof of any collusion. 'Concluded' has bought them two years running.


Comment: When all deflections are investigated and proven false, what is left is the deflector.

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Cell Phone

Missing Strzok-Page text messages were destroyed by the DOJ before the IG could review them

Bre Payton
The Federalist
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 00:00 UTC
Strzok/Cellphone
© CNBC.com/Tennessee Star/KJN
The Department of Justice wiped text messages between former FBI employees Lisa Page and Peter Strozk from their cell phones before the Office of the Inspector General could review them, a new report from the DOJ watchdog reveals.

Page and Strozk's involvement with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation has been heavily scrutinized after it was revealed they had sent numerous anti-Trump text messages back and forth to one another. Mueller has been tasked with looking into whether or not Donald Trump and his campaign associates coordinated with Russian officials to steal the 2016 election away from Hillary Clinton.

The 11-page report reveals that almost a month after Strzok was removed from Mueller's team, his government-issued iPhone was wiped clean and restored to factory settings by another individual working in Mueller's office. The special counsel's Record's Officer told investigators that "she determined it did not contain records that needed to be retained."

"She noted in her records log about Strzok's phone: 'No substantive texts, notes or reminders,'" the report states.

Comment: "Now you see 'em, now you don't..." Who was instructed to do what by whom?

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Attention

The federal judge overseeing Michael Flynn's sentencing found evidence FBI created multiple 302 summaries

Margot Cleveland
The Federalist
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 00:00 UTC
Flynn
© Reuters/Jonathan ErnstGeneral Michael Flynn leaves US District Court
On Tuesday, attorneys for Michael Flynn filed a sentencing memorandum and letters of support for the former Army lieutenant general in federal court. The sentencing memorandum reveals for the first time concrete evidence that the FBI created multiple 302 interview summaries of Flynn's questioning by now-former FBI agent Peter Strzok and a second unnamed agent, reported to be FBI Special Agent Joe Pientka.

Further revelations may be forthcoming soon following an order entered late yesterday by presiding judge Emmet Sullivan, directing the special counsel's office to file with the court any 302s or memorandum relevant to Flynn's interview.

Flynn, who served briefly as President Donald Trump's national security advisor, pleaded guilty more than a year ago to making false statements to federal investigators during a January 24, 2017 interview. During that interview, Strzok and (presumably) Pientka questioned Flynn about a telephone conversation the Trump advisor had with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

While Flynn's sentencing memorandum methodically laid out the case for a low-level sentence of one-year probation, footnote 23 dropped a bomb, revealing that the agents' 302 summary of his interview was dated August 22, 2017. As others have already noted, the August 22, 2017 date is a "striking detail" because that puts the 302 report "nearly seven months after the Flynn interview." When added to facts already known, this revelation takes on a much greater significance.

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Down

China to suspend added tariff on US autos

David Reid
CNBC
Fri, 14 Dec 2018 00:00 UTC
chinese carworkers
© China Daily/ReutersEmployees assembling SAID Volkswagen in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China.
China has said it will temporarily halt its additional 25 percent tariff on vehicles made in the United States. The relief will last for three months staring from January 1, as part of an agreed truce between Beijing and Washington.

The Chinese finance ministry said on its website that China will suspend 25 percent tariffs on 144 vehicles and auto parts originating from the U.S. and 5 percent tariffs on an additional 67 auto items.

U.S. President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping agreed to lessen the impact of trade tariffs for the first 90 days of 2019, following a dinner in Argentina on December 1.

The U.S. has slapped a 25 percent tariff on finished vehicles built in China and 10 percent on most auto parts. China's 40 percent tariff on U.S. car imports will now reduce to 15 percent for 90 days.

That brings the auto tariffs in China back down to the same level as before the point that the two countries began imposing tit-for-tat levies.

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Target

Erdogan: 'Cleanse them'; remove Kurdish militias or Turkey will send troops


RT
Fri, 14 Dec 2018 13:10 UTC
Erdogan/US military
© Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan REUTERS/Umit Bektas; (R) FILE PHOTO: American army vehicles drive north of Manbij. Reuters/Rodi SaidTurkish President Tayyip Erdogan REUTERS/Umit Bektas; (R) FILE PHOTO: American army vehicles drive north of Manbij.
The US must have Kurdish militias withdraw from the Syrian town of Manbij, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday, otherwise he will order his troops to take the key settlement.

The threat, delivered during a speech in Istanbul, ramps up Erdogan's rhetoric targeting the YPG militias. Earlier on Wednesday, he publicly complained that the US, which support the Kurds in northeastern Syria, is failing to deliver on its promise to clear Manbij of Kurdish fighters. Ankara considers Syrian Kurdish paramilitaries as an extension of the Turkey-based anti-government guerrillas and brands the YPG as terrorists.

"Manbij is a place where Arabs live, but they have surrendered the area to the terror organization," the Turkish president told a judiciary conference. "Now we are saying that you should cleanse, remove them, or else we will enter Manbij. I am speaking very clearly."

Comment: More from Sputnik:
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and its component, the People's Protection Units (YPG), have promised to fight "to the death" in the event of a new Turkish operation in northeastern Syria, SDF spokeswoman Jihan Sheikh Ahmed told Sputnik on Friday.

"We will defend the north and the east of Syria to the death," Ahmed said commenting on the SDF response on a possible operation.

The spokeswoman added that the SDF would not like to see a situation similar to what happened earlier this year in Afrin, where Ankara conducted a military operation.

Later in the day, Syria's main Kurdish parties and other allied groups issued a joint statement on the issue, calling Turkish plans a "declaration of war" and calling on world powers to prevent an assault on the region.

"All the forces in the north and east Syria...are asked to agree on strategies to confront this aggression," the statement read.

The statements followed Thursday's media reports, saying that the Turkish military was reinforcing troops stationed in the province of Kilis on the Syrian border with armoured vehicles. These reports emerged after a statement made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday that Ankara would launch a new military operation in Syria within days to free the east of the Euphrates from the US-backed Kurdish militia.
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